Official cause of Red Jacket fire called undetermined

The south wing of the landmark North Conway lodge was quickly engulfed in flame soon after the blaze started. (Courtesy photo)

NORTH CONWAY - The State Fire Marshals Office has found that the cause of the fire that destroyed an entire wing of the Red Jacket Mountain View Resort is undetermined, which means investigators cannot say with any certainty what caused the blaze.

The south wing of the mammoth hotel burned to the ground on April 30, drawing mutual aid from as far away as Milton and Wakefield.

Soon after the Office of the State Fire Marshal was contacted by the North Conway Fire Department to assist with the investigation of the multi-alarm fire. After conducting a scene examination and following-up on interviews with guests and witnesses, the cause of the fire has been listed as undetermined. An undetermined cause classification means that the cause of the fire could not be proved to an acceptable level of certainty. However, there was no evidence or information that led investigators to believe that a crime had been committed.

The Office of the State Fire Marshal has received many inquiries on the fire protection systems in the hotel.

· Investigators were able to verify that the guest rooms were equipped with local, hardwired smoke alarms with battery back-up, in addition to a fire alarm system heat detector.

· The smoke alarms were designed to sound only in the individual guest rooms once activated.

The heat detector would set off the building fire alarm system, once activated.

· The main hallways of the hotel were equipped with fire alarm system smoke detectors and alarm notification devices (horn/strobes).

· The south wing of the hotel lacked a complete automatic sprinkler system. The New Hampshire State Fire Code, defined in RSA 153, includes the Life Safety Code, NFPA 101, 2015 edition. Under the current statute, existing hotel occupancies that are not considered a high-rise are not required to have an automatic sprinkler system. Automatic sprinkler systems in new hotels became a fire code requirement in 1991 for buildings that are not high-rises.

Anyone with information regarding the fire is asked to contact the Office of the State Fire Marshal at (603) 223-4289.